


His Beach

by papesdontsellthemselves



Series: His Beach AU [1]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: M/M, Past Character Death, platonic ralbert, romantic sprace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 00:15:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17192873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/papesdontsellthemselves/pseuds/papesdontsellthemselves
Summary: Silence along a long stretch of road.  A foot, cautiously pressing down on the accelerator, causing the car to go imperceptibly faster.  A hand, resting on the half-open window, cigarette dangling between the pointer and middle finger.  Music, old music, softly sounding from the worn out radio on the dashboard.  Shoes long since abandoned on the floor in front of the seat.





	His Beach

Silence along a long stretch of road. A foot, cautiously pressing down on the accelerator, causing the car to go imperceptibly faster. A hand, resting on the half-open window, cigarette dangling between the pointer and middle finger. Music, old music, softly sounding from the worn out radio on the dashboard. Shoes long since abandoned on the floor in front of the seat. 

It had been like this for a while, neither man feeling the need to speak to one another as they traveled. They wallowed separately in their fresh grief, allowing the warm breeze to numb them as it passed through the windows of the car, sweeping their hair in different directions. 

The landscape of the road changed and they found themselves driving on sand, tires bouncing faintly over the marram grass as they neared the water’s edge. 

The car was put in park, but neither one of them made to get out, opting to drink in the view of dusk engulfing the tide instead. Abruptly, the passenger side door was opened and bare feet stepped out onto the sand.

“You coming?” Albert asked over his shoulder, reaching down to cuff his jeans so as to avoid getting them sandy.

Spot cleared his throat, “Yeah,” he unbuckled, scrubbing his hand down his face and pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes for a moment before climbing out of the car as well. He zipped up his sweater to combat the seaside breeze and mirrored Albert’s actions of kicking off his shoes, electing to carry them in one hand rather than leave them in the car.

They reached the shoreline, sitting down simultaneously in the damp sand, not caring that the seats of their pants were getting wet. Albert stared out over the water, mindlessly brushing his fingers over the sand, allowing the coarseness of it to ground him.

“He loved it here,” Spot muttered, breaking the silence.

Albert nodded, eyes sweeping the horizon, “He did.”

“Did he bring you here a lot?”

“Not as much as he brought you,” Albert paused, thinking, “But yeah.”

Tranquility settled over them once more, both men lost in separate thoughts.

“I was gonna marry him, you know,” Spot said, voice steady, although Albert could tell he was only keeping it together by a thread, “Was gonna propose to him here.”

“I know,” Albert sighed, “He found the ring you’d bought and showed it to me one day while we were hanging out,” he looked down, watching his toes curl in the sand, “He had one, too,” he added, “He wanted to try to beat you to it.”

Spot breathed out a laugh, “Asshole,” he shook his head, “Always so competitive.”

Albert laughed too, though it felt forced- wrong.

Spot cleared his throat, turning to look at Albert for the first time, “Do you, uh, did you bring it?”

Albert swallowed, coming back to himself, “Yeah, uh, yes, I did,” he reached into his hoodie pocket, pulling out the worn casing that once held Race’s cigar collection. The R that had once been embellished in gold lettering on the lid was now scratched and fading and the hinges were rusty, but Race had treasured the box more than some of his friendships, protecting it with his life. Inside, a singular corona, as well as Albert and his matching bracelets, were secured in the wood. Albert swallowed, willing the emotion that rose in his throat to dissipate. He was tired of crying.

“Should we do it?” He asked, voice barely above a whisper.

“Wait,” Spot insisted, reaching into his own pocket and pulling out the ring that he had kept hidden in his drawer for so long. He held it up to his lips, closing his eyes as he mumbled something inaudible against the cool palladium. Albert waited patiently as Spot placed it into the box next to the bracelets, fingers lingering longingly before he pulled his hand away quickly, as though the box had burned him.

“Okay,” Spot choked out, barely veiled sentiment laced in his tone, “Do it.”

Albert closed the lid, running his thumb over the R one last time before standing and chucking the box into the waves, a pained yell escaping his throat. He stood, panting, as the box hit the waves, landing with a splash that was drowned out by the natural crash of the waves. Spot stood, resting a hand on his shoulder, reminding him of their solitude. 

Albert set his jaw, placing his hand over Spot’s, “‘Til next time, Racer.”

Water pooled around their feet in a silent answer.


End file.
